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April 27, 2010

books you can live without? no such thing, says Joshua Ferris

The great works of fiction, the art books with full-color plates, the wispy illustration books full of peewee nostalgia — I’d never willingly part with one of them. Insignificant books, untouched books, even those books I consider physical nuisances — same. I have books on the bookshelves, books in the basement, books under the bed, books piled high on top of my wife...

Books are notes from the field, bound and domesticated, life brought into narrow focus. Get rid of a book? No way. Every one is a brick keeping the building standing. Books are my life. I leave and come back, and the books I find there tell me I’m home.